In the field of printing, the use of a printed receipt as a proof of purchase of merchandise for the benefit of the customer is a common business practice. The receipt is a printed record showing the purchase of one or more items in a merchandising transaction that may also include the printing of a journal tape to provide a permanent record of such transaction and which journal tape is retained in the receipt-issuing printer. The receipt for such transaction is normally derived from a roll of paper tape or like record media wherein, after printing of the transaction is completed, a portion or strip of the paper on the roll is separated therefrom as by a tearing or cutting action. A common method in the tearing operation utilizes a tear-off member installed on the printer and having a serrated or like edge along which the paper tape is manually disposed and the receipt is caused to be separated at a line across the tape when a portion thereof is removed in the tearing action. In certain other cases, the paper tape may be fashioned to include spaced rows of perforations or lines of weakening along which a receipt or like portion of a tape is removed from the roll.
The use of cutting devices or like severing mechanisms also has evolved over the years in printing operations to provide the printed receipts in a manner wherein the severing or cutting operation is performed by the device or mechanism after the printing of certain information is completed on the receipt portion of the paper roll and while the receipt portion is still a part thereof. The two common methods of severing or cutting the paper tape are accomplished by means of a slicing action or by a shearing action. The slicing concept includes the use of a slot or like recess along an anvil or platen member and across which the paper tape is trained in a taut manner and a cutting device with a knife edge positioned at the slot is caused to be operated therealong for cutting the tape. The shear concept includes the use of an anvil or platen member having a straight edge along one side thereof and against which the paper or like record media is trained and a cutting device with a knife edge is caused to be moved against and along the edge for cutting the paper.
Representative documentation in the field of cutting or severing paper or like record media in printing operations includes U.S. Pat. No. 3,115,827, issued to A. Muhlbach et al. on Dec. 31, 1963, which discloses apparatus for severing records wherein a cutting plate is mounted in a block by means of a pin and is held in an upper position by a tension spring. The upper position is determined by the combination of cam means and a two-arm lever in an arrangement wherein rotation of the cam means moves the cutting plate downwardly so that a cutting edge of the plate cooperates with a cutting anvil to sever a merchandise tag.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,951,252, issued to R. Selke et al. on Apr. 20, 1976, discloses an electromechanical writing device that includes coupling means for coupling a rotary knife carrier to a print head carrier and rotary cutting mechanism that includes the rotary knife and carrier that are movable with the print head. The knife operates along and in contact with the edge of the platen. The paper is caused to be moved past the edge of the platen and the cutting mechanism utilizes rollers and a spring for sliding and urging action of the knife relative to the platen edge for shearing the paper.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,003,281, issued to S. S. Kumpf et al. on Jan. 18, 1977, discloses record material cutting mechanism wherein a motor causes a cam arm member to pivot or rotate about a shaft and allow a stud member to rock the knife arm, which has a knife or cutting wheel thereon, about a pin or stud while the cutting wheel moves in a rectilinear plane along a slot in a guide member. The cutting wheel is loaded or urged by a compression spring and extends through a slot in a top portion of the guide member into a recessed area. The cutting wheel is moved into engagement with a shear edge of the recessed area by the compression spring which is mounted between the wheel and a guide roller. The guide roller rides on a surface of a guide support which has a cam surface to guide the wheel in a horizontal direction to traverse the receipt strip in cutting movement.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,302,119, issued to F. Siegenthaler on Nov. 24, 1981, discloses a matrix printer with a cutting device wherein a knife blade is integral with a cam carrier of a planar sliding cam drive roller. Three cam sections on the carrier are engageable by the cam roller and the blade is caused to be moved toward and away from the cutting position by contact of the cam roller with the respective inclined and reversely inclined cam sections.